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Weathering Model Aircraft

General Weathering
No single technique will do all weathering. My method involves several techniques, executed in sequence, to build up the desired finish on the model. Depending on the exact need, I may skip some steps or re-apply some steps multiple times to achieve the results I want. With practice, these techniques are not real difficult or time consuming. I can completely weather an average size aircraft with general, overall weathering in a couple two-hour sittings. The reason I can not do it all in a single sitting is because there is need for drying time during the process.

1. First, I build the model. I will fully build the airframe, paint the camouflage, and apply the decals. I'll leave off the landing gear and little details, adding these to the model as appropriate either during weathering or after the weathering is done.
    
2. Following the application of the decals, I gloss coat the entire model for one final time. Using my airbrush, I give the entire model a good coat of clear gloss using Floquil Crystal Coat. I dilute the Crystal Coat 50/50 with Xylene as thinner. This is actually a lacquer paint and lacquer thinner, but I have never had trouble covering Model Master enamels with them. I thin the Model Master enamels with the same Xylene thinner, which prepares them for over-coating by this gloss finish. The purpose of this clear coat is to prepare the surfaces for application of washes using thinner-based paints. After applying the gloss coat, I let the model dry overnight so the washes do not eat into the gloss paint.
    
3. I apply thinner-based enamel paint washes. I tend toward the darker colors, usually black. I generally will also include a medium brown or dark tan wash in select areas. I apply these by dipping a paint brush in the paint color, then swishing the brush in a cap full of mineral spirits (thinner) until the brush is mostly clean. The brush tip, wet with "dirty" thinner, is then carefully touched to the places where panel lines cross and the corners of details. Capillary action draws the "dirty" thinner off the brush and along the panel lines and edges of the details. Controlling the "dirtiness" of the thinner effects the darkness of the washes. Repeated applications also make progressively darker highlights.
   
   Invariably, some of the "dirty" thinner gets onto the model surfaces around the panel lines where I touch the paintbrush. To remove these excesses, I swipe my finger gently over the spot in the direction of the airflow on the aircraft. This will create a small streak. Controlling the locations where I touch the paintbrush to the model controls where these streaks are created.
   
   Raised or engraved panel lines work the same in this process. There are inside edges with raised panel lines, similar to the troughs created by engraved panel lines. On raised lines, I try to only highlight one side of the panel line, thus avoiding the look where a bright line (the top of the raised panel line) is surrounded on both sides by dark highlighting.
    
4. Following the washes, I flat coat the model, again using my airbrush. For clear flat paint, I am hooked on PollyScale (used to be PollyS) Flat Finish. This paint gives the flattest finish I have found. Here is when the fruits of my labors start to come alive. With the model now a uniform flat sheen, all the subtle variations in colors created by the washes start to become really visible.
    
5. After the flat coat, I turn to my air brush to do shading on the model. This shading takes two forms. The first form is the simulation of actual dirt. Many of the streaks created by the washes are rather light in their centers with darker edges. I use the air brush to lightly fill in the centers of these streaks. I also will lightly draw lines along the panel lines of the model. Lastly, this is how I create exhaust stains and powder burns.
   
   The second form is the simulation of shadows. I lightly darken the inside corners of the model like wing roots, the base of the vertical tail, the underside of intakes and antennas, etc. While this seems a fruitless point (obviously there will already be natural shadows on the model), this shading helps convince the viewer's mind's eye that the model is sitting under outdoor daylight rather than the omnipresent lighting of the indoor room where the model is displayed. Trust me on this one ... ;o)
   
   To control the paint in this shading process, I keep it extremely thin. I will put one drop of paint in an air brush jar with two or three eye-droppers full of thinner. This creates a mixture that you can almost see though. Using this paint mixture, a single pass of the air brush hardly makes any difference. But, repeated passes will start to build up a dark area. This thin mixture makes it so that paint splattering is not visible, contributing to a subtler shaded look.
   
   For color choices, obviously I use black for this shading. But, in some applications, browns, tans, blues, grays, and greens all have uses. It depends on the model and the camouflage colors. For engine exhausts, there is almost always a brown and gray portion to the stain. Accounting for and including these colors can make dramatic differences in the look of the exhaust stain.
    
6. By now, I have completed over 90% of the weathering. The final step involves dry brushing the model to show wear and tear. I use dark gray and black paint to simulate scuff marks from maintenance crew shoes. I use silver to simulate chipped and worn paint.

This process, with minor variation, works on most all parts of the model, not just the outside surfaces. I use this process inside the cockpits, inside the wheel wells, on the landing gear, and just about everywhere and anywhere that I need to simulate weathering. The best thing about this weathering process is that it is permanent. I can (and do periodically) wash my models under running water without disturbing the weathering that I fought hard to create. Try that with pastels...